Flourless Chocolate Cookies (Gluten-Free + Vegan)

February 11, 2011Angela (Oh She Glows)

by Angela (Oh She Glows) on February 11, 2011

Someone is having a very good Friday…and I hope you are too!

Eric and I leave bird food out every couple weeks and the squirrels always steal it and have a feast! It is so fun watching them hide their food in random spots all over the backyard. They always check behind their back before they bury it. ;)

…Little do they know a creeper (me) is watching through the window!

I always wonder if they even remember half of their hiding places…

We were finally able to get a technician in to fix our broken furnace late last night. We had a nice warm sleep and I can feel my fingers and toes once again.The price tag was not so nice though!

In other news…I made some awesome chocolate cookies…

COOKIE FAIL.

Murphy’s Law: When you have high hopes for a chocolate cookie recipe, it will be a huge bust!

As these were melting like lava in the oven, I was happily cleaning up and putting all the dishes and ingredients away. When I opened the oven door, I had a few choice words for these cookies!

If the walls in my kitchen could talk, it would be a bit like a Jerry Springer show, I’m afraid.

So what went wrong? I made some homemade vegan white chocolate because I thought it would be fun to use it in this cookie recipe. Well, apparently my homemade white chocolate turns into complete liquid when baked! It spilled out of the cookie dough and created the mess that you see above.

Take 2 was pretty successful though (sans white chocolate!).

Flourless Chocolate Cookies (GF + Vegan)

These flourless cookies are crisp on the outer edge and soft and gooey in the centre. They aren’t very sweet, but they remind me of a chocolate macaroon in cookie form, thanks to the coconut base. The cookies turn into a chewy, soft cookie on day two and lose their crispy factor. You can also make this recipe without the flax egg. The cookies aren’t great on the first day, but have this really fun chewy and crispy texture on day two.

5. Add wet to dry and mix well until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and optional nuts.

6. Spoon the dough onto the baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches apart as they spread out a lot.

7. Bake for 13-15 minutes at 375F. Cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes. Makes about 12-14 cookies depending on how large you make them.

Note: Make sure the ingredients you use are gluten-free certified if that is your intention.

*The cookies were a bit flat for my liking, so next time I would probably try reducing the almond milk to yield a thicker batter.

UPDATE: I tried a cookie about 6-7 hours after baking and it was better! These cookies really do benefit from sitting for a while.

Update #2: Day 2: The cookies turn into a chewy, soft cookie on day two and lose the crispy factor.

Update #3: I made the same batch without the flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water) and while I did not ‘love’ them on day one, the next day they were my favourite. They have this fun crispy and chewy texture when you leave out the flax egg.

Assemble the dry and wet ingredients. Note: this recipe is gluten-free and vegan! :)

Mix your flax egg and set aside so it can gel up.

Whisk dry ingredients and wet ingredients.

Mix!

Fold in the chips and optional nuts.

[Awesome tasting cookie dough!]

Place small spoonfuls on baking sheet about 2 inches apart. I flattened the balls with a wet spoon, but I wouldn’t recommend this as they spread out too flat. I would just leave them as balls and this will probably yield a thicker cookie. One of our complaints was that the cookies were too flat.

Bake for 14-15 minutes at 375F.

I’m not sure what to think about these cookies. I remember them tasting much better than they do. I think that might be because they are better tasting the second day, so I will have to try them tomorrow to form my final opinion. Eric and I both agreed that they are too flat, but you might be able to make a thicker cookie if you don’t flatten the dough with a spoon like I did.

They are good, don’t get me wrong, but they didn’t blow me away like I remembered! If you try them out, let me know what you think of them. :)

(See my updates in the recipe!)

I’m also in charge of birthday cupcakes for THREE birthday celebrations this weekend…it’s a bit crazy in my kitchen right now.

Have you ever experimented with coconut flour? It makes some AMAZING GF/flourless treats. It’s hard to make vegan because it seems to be partial to using egg as a binder but I’ve been using chia with some success :) Almond flour also can help things ‘stick’ together. These cookies look awesome. PS. I’m currently also in love with mini cupcakes! Yours look fab.

Squirrels don’t always remember where they bury their nuts! This is super important because then the seeds/nuts grow into new plants. :)

I had a moment of baking happiness today. I was watching some videos on youtube and I came across a video about making a sponge cake. The link is here if you are interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmLkPBut8nI
(It is cute, there is a Japanese woman cooking and a poodle next to her that is suppose to be narrating… but he’s French spoken by someone with an obvious Japanese accent, hehe)

So when I made my pound cake today in preparation for Valentine’s Day Trifle, I did it a bit differently in the motions of my stirring, folding, etc. It turned out really well! So I feel like I am learning. :)

It takes time. You have made so many delicious recipes anyways! Did you already throw away the cookie fail? I would have broken it up and sprinkled it on ice cream or something, yum!

I can’t believe how great of a picture you got of that squirrel! It is cute, even though I really don’t like them. I stand by Carrie Bradshaw’s description of them: a rat with a fluffy tail. Ha!
Your cookies look delish!

haha oh Carrie Bradshaw. I used to be indifferent to squirrels, but now that I stalk them through my window, I realized how cute they are! They basically spend all day burying nuts and seeds in random spots. I always feel bad for them freezing cold though :(

The cookies…amazing, Angela! It can be so hard to bake vegan, or GF, but combining vegan AND gf baking and many times there are tons of issues….your first cookies..they look amazing as maybe crumble toppings for ice cream or in smoothies. I hope you saved them!

These look amazing! I am going to make them tonight– because I have all the ingredients on hand, and what better time to make them than the weekend before Valentine’s Day! It’s what I needed for my Friday, thank you:) Have a great weekend!

I give you credit for acknowledging your baking flops! I may be known to toss anything that isn’t pretty in the trash… or directly into my mouth to hide the evidence :)

Ps. I can’t tell exactly by the pictures, but the squirrels in Kingston are MASSIVE… like cats almost. And they sit on my ledge and creep me! So you’re just exacting revenge on the squirrels for all humans ;)

ANGELA! I took my sister to see Justin Bieber’s movie today, and guess what????? He drinks a green monster!!!! he calls it “dinosaur pee” though and he doesn’t quite like it. Usher makes him drink it when he has a sore throat. But I had to tell you!!! Also, he’s Canadian (i had no idea!)

These cookies look fabulous! I’ll try them with carob in the weeks to come and remove the almond milk. I made a similar cookie last week with almond butter & protein powder. They didn’t have any liquid and they turned out pretty good!

glad you got the furnace fixed, angela! maybe if the fix-it man had seen today’s COOKIES, he would have worked out a deal with you! anyway, happy you’re no longer freezing.
haha, i saw the “cookie fail” photo BEFORE i read that it was a cookie fail…my initial thought was, “these don’t look like angela’s usual cookies…” – glad round #2 worked more to your liking!

these do look intriguing so ill try them. however, im even more interested in the recipe for the homemade white chocolate you made. ive seen a version with macadamia nut butter. but what did you use? (if you are entitled to share of course!).

During the winters, when I lived in Sweden, it was incomprehensible to me how I could be standing in the middle of the forest, and see absolutely no wild life. It’s so quiet and creepy! I love seeing little squirrels and animals going about their business :) Oh, and those cookies look fab, too!

Oh my gosh…must bake these immediately! I have a friend who is gluten intolerant and my sister and I always try to have to something gluten-free for her at gatherings. Gluten-Free and Vegan sounds HEAVENLY. You have the best recipes!

those look great! i made your no bake chocolate coconut macaroons today, one batch i did with sugar and one batch with honey. they were super sticky with the honey, BUT better when rolled in coconut, cause the coconut stuck on very well. do you eat honey? if not, why? just curious, if it is personal, no worries!

Oh My God, I think these might be the most delicious cookies I have ever had!! Thanks again Angela! And they were just perfect out of the oven :) The changes I made were substitute the coconut with almond meal/flour, I added only 2 Tbsp almond milk, and I also didn’t add any nuts. Oh, and I used a cookie scoop to form balls, they turned out perfect. Thanks for fixing my chocolate craving… mmm, cookies for breakfast, LOL!

Squirrels are actually really good at returning to the spots where they cache food. For them the spots aren’t random, and they can remember probably 90% of them. Or they will just use their noses to find another squirrel’s caches. I work in a lab that studies the squirrels on UC Berkeley campus: jacobs.berkeley.edu if you want to find out more about their cognition abilities.

I tried these tonight and cooked them for a little too long :( They still taste good but I am going to try again sometime soon! Thanks for all the great recipes! I have tried quite a few and really like them!

Will you post the recipe for those delicious looking cupcakes? They look amazing and I would love to try them! Basketball season is finally over (I coach middle school cheerleading) so I finally have time to bake again!

I just made these cookies today and I have to say they are deeeee-lish!. However, I did not flatten them out, also, I did not use as much almond milk (per Angela’s recommendation) and they did not spread out at all. They were perfect little nuggets of chewy chocolate, oh my!
BTW, Angela…I discovered your website and all of it’s greatness about 2 weeks ago and I have to admit, I am totally addicted. My husband and I call ourselves “flexitarians” and most of what we have been eating lately is from your recipes…along with some fresh fish and chicken! I am a runner as well and my husband cycles, so we are always interested in keeping our bodies fueled with healthy/tasty things…thanks so much for what you do.

Hello again. Besides loving your website and all of the wonderful recipes, I do have one concern that I hope you can address or fix. I have noticed that at the bottom of any recipe, there are several more recipes for various foods (those 5 or so little squares with the heading underneath). I love looking at them and making copies, however these recipes are not always under their correct headings ( ie: breakfast, lunch, snacks, etc) on your main page when you click on “recipes”. This makes it hard to go back and find at a later date…I can spend hours reading your website and recipes…soooo, it’s sometime hard to remember where I saw a particular one. Also, I hope all of your recipes will have the “print” option soon too. Thank you in advance. :)

YAY! I’m so glad you liked these! Thank you for the shoutout, and thank you for your updates! I will try leaving out the flax egg next time too. Too bad about the melting batch though :( You are my hero for making your own white chocolate though!

Aww, your snowy squirrel is so cute! We *LOVE* our backyard birds and squirrels! Mr. Wing-It feeds them every morning, and all the birds wait for him on the tree above the bird feeder every single day. There were five squirrels being pesky and naughty in our backyard today. They gobble up all the food in no time!

Just tried these and sadly they were a complete flop for me! I think my batch of cocoa powder must have been especially strong, because they were sooo bitter. I think I’ll try them again with half the amount of cocoa. And I’ll definitely taste them in a few hours to see if the flavor has improved!

An avid follower of yours recently pointed out your blog to me when I went vegan for a month with my BF (just for the challenge of it). You’ve been a lifesaver! Thank you!

I just finished these cookies and reduced the milk as suggested. Sadly, they didn’t spread at all and stayed as mounds, so a little shaping will be needed next time. Also I just had unsweetened chocolate almond milk laying around, not sure if this did it but these cookies were so rich! Really nice!

Also tried your salt-kissed chocolate chip peanut butter cookies. Really nice. I’m learning so much about vegan baking. I also really love how you show your progress/batches and it has encouraged me to experiment on your recipes. Your determination and candidness is inspiring.

I just tumbled across this recipe that I had bookmarked a year ago and decided to bake it and I have to say, they are amazing!! I skipped the flax egg and thought it tasted wonderful right out of the oven. Mine came out crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside and I personally love that they come out flat. Thanks for sharing the recipe, this one’s a keeper in my book!

Well, these chocolate cookies were just to die for! I made them last night and they were quick, easy, and delicious!! Thanks for the recipe. I had never made flourless cookies before, and these get a 10! Moist, chocolatey and addictive. :) Thanks for sharing!

I made these cookies without the flax egg this weekend and they were amazing! Instant hit at our house. I had left them in clumps on the cookie sheet and they held together really well without flattening too much. We liked them so much, I had to make a second batch tonight (4 nights later) but half way through making them realized I had run out of almond milk and made the decision to use the flax egg in its stead. The flax egg plus another 2 tbsp of water (added after combining wet and dry) worked almost as well as just almond milk! Loving their versatility!!!